The concept of an automated nuclear reactor for long-term operation was the subject of a January 1996 article by Edward Teller and others which focused on the concept of breeding without reprocessing using a nuclear burn wave which traveled from an initial fissile region, where there was enriched fissile material that was inherently critical, into fertile material which shifted the primary fission reaction from one location to another within the overall reactor core. This concept was further developed by some of the authors on this 1996 paper and others resulting in the publication of descriptions of such traveling wave reactors in a series of published U.S. applications, including Application Nos. 2008/0123796; 2008/0232525; and 2009/0080587.
The present invention approaches this objective in a different manner to provide modular nuclear fission waste conversion reactors which can operate without refueling for several decades, producing power continuously over their lifetime and resulting in an ultimate core of spent fuel material containing as much or more fissile material, suitable for reuse, than was present in the initial core.